Pakistan to observe Ramazan from Saturday: Mufti Muneeb
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Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee Chairman Mufti Muneeb ur Rehman Thursday said that Ramazan moon has not sighted in Pakistan and the nation would observe first fast on Saturday (April 25).
Mufti Muneeb also requested the masses to completely observe the SOPs determined by the government and a committee of religious scholars to avoid spread of the deadly coronavirus during the prayers at mosques.
He especially requested all those who have health conditions are of elderly age to refrain from coming to the mosques.
Ramazan is the most sacred month of the Islamic calendar. The holy month has been grappled with social distancing, quarantines and lockdown restrictions.
According to MET department, a naked eye can see moon only after it crossed its 29.5 hours but today the moon age was 12 hours and 15 minutes when the committees convened for moon sight sighting.
As per the Pakistan Met Department scientific predictions, the moon will be sighted on Friday (April 24).
The Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee meeting took place in Karachi and in all zonal headquarters including the Lahore, Quetta, Islamabad and Peshawar on Thursday evening.
Chairman of the committee Mufti Muneebur Rehman presided over the meeting at the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) office in Karachi.
See Also: No chance of Ramazan moon sighting Thursday: Met Office
Two Ramazans?
There yet maybe two Ramazan starts for Pakistan as Mufti Shahabuddin Popalzai of Peshawar's Qasim Ali Khan mosque has also convened separate meetings in Karachi and Peshawar respectively tonight to sight the Ramazan crescent amid Pakistan Meteorological Department's statement that there was no chance of moon sighting on Thursday night.
Mufti Popalzai while talking exclusively to 24NewsHd TV channel said that their local committee would meet Thursday for moon sighting.
Mufti Popalzai has a unique and odd precedent to dent the national unity to celebrate the religious festivals on the same day. For the last few years, Mufti Popalzai has been coming up with contradictory statements to official announcements.
He claimed that a limited number of people would be allowed in the meeting due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. “We will decide about the first fast of Ramazan on the basis of evidence gathered by the mosque in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.”
Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry said that ‘For the first time in history, a member of the Ministry of Science and Technology has been included in the Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee.”